Trapped In Life

Starting Over (Part 2) - Infection

“It’s good to see you too, Dr. Reeves. I am tired but otherwise, I feel fine,” I said smiling at him hoping that he will release me from the hospital as he said he would.

“That’s good. You’re blood panels look better today. Your blood sugar is back in line. I want to see how you do with solid foods today. I also want to look at that head wound. Your white blood cell count is up some. There might be an infection trying to start,” he said in a rush of information while he checked my pulse and eyes.

“So, no going home today?”

“No,” he said with a sigh. “Not going home today. That was a possibility before the amnesia manifested. We knew you had a concussion with a slight skull fracture. We had no idea there was amnesia. The CAT scan we did showed no issues which would have caused it.”

“How deep was the head wound?”

He looked at me for a moment considering what he was going to answer me. He looked at the chart in his hand then sat it down on the bed. He walked over to the cabinet in the room taking some items out.  He put them all on a tray then moved the tray table across the foot of the bed.  He put the tray on the rolling bed table.  I recognized them as bandages.  He pressed the call button while moving things around.

When the nurse arrived, he made a request from her for further items which were not in the cabinet. She hurried out of the room then returned as he was starting to cut the bandage away. I noticed one of the items he had her bring was a hand mirror. I wondered the reason for this but guessed it might have been due to my question.

He worked for several minutes before the bandage was off. I could feel him gently moving hair out of his way to keep from cutting it while cutting the bandage.  When he touched the area just at the hairline with his gloved fingers, I winced a bit from the tenderness. The pain wasn’t extreme, but it was more noticeable than it was with the bandage wrapped around it.

I tried to read his face as he checked the wound I couldn’t see.  One thing I could see was the red hair that had been held back by the bandage.  I hadn’t even thought Kaitlyn wasn’t a blond.  Death had not said.  I had only assumed since I didn’t check her hair.  I had seen pictures of her in the paper and on TV, but they were a mintage of photos on TV.  I knew how hair color changed with roles.  I didn’t put too many thoughts into it.   I mean, she was playing my role in the movie right?  I was a blond.  I had not changed my hair for the role.  The deep red of Kaitlyn’s hair shocked me.  I did a good job of playing it off though.  I believed the doctor didn't pick up on it.

“Well, Dr. Reeves,” I said Kaitlyn’s eyes looking up at him. “How bad and deep is it?”

“Initially, it was very deep.  It went to the skull. It took a while to suture since we had to work from the inside out.  There was a lot of glass in it.  There isn’t a lot of area to work with in that part of the head.  I wasn’t sure the skull I saw was only scratched or actually fractured. What you have is a mild fracture,” he said as he worked. “Now it does look like you are getting a little bit of an infection.  I want to clean the wound again.  See if I can find where the infection is coming from.  We could have missed a sliver or more.”

I took a deep breath again.   This was going to keep me in the hospital longer.  I don’t know how but I knew it would.  Nothing he was saying sounded good.  “What do we do?” I said finally thinking the sooner the better.

“Well, first, I want you to understand how little of this cut will impact your appearance.”

I looked at him incredulously as he picked up the hand mirror. Was Kaitlyn Dupre that shallow? I was suddenly thinking I might not like this girl whose body I was in.

He shook his head as he said “Now, don’t give me that look, Miss Dupre. I know you really don’t care much because it can be hidden with make-up or surgery if need be.   However, I want you to see this.”

Suddenly, I realized he knew Kaitlyn before this.   He was being very formal and professional when there was a chance of him being seen or heard, which made me think there was something more between them. “Dr. Reeves, do we know each other?”

He tried to hide the swallow he took at my question.  The nurse in the room with us couldn't see it.  He didn't answer the question while she stood next to him waiting for him to check and re-bandage the wound on Kaitlyn’s head.  He continued to move the mirror so I could see the wound.

Her hair was a beautiful shade of dark red with lighter highlights. There was a slight wave and curl in her tresses which hung lower than I could see. She had slightly long bangs which I was sure changed length depending on her need for roles. Her eyes were like shining sapphires, which I could see looking like clear blue ice when she was angry. Strangely enough, her nose and face structure was very similar to my own. I was happy with that. Her red eyebrows raised as I watched the doctor move the mirror to show the deep four-inch cut just inside her hairline. He had moved as much hair as he could out of the way.

The cut was angry-looking. It was surrounded by red puffiness. I realize this is my body now, not Kaitlyn’s. If it healed cleanly, it would be almost impossible to see. “Do you need to…cut…shave the hair around it?” I said thinking of the implications of this new much younger, beautiful body.

“No, unless it gets more infected that won’t be necessary,” he said with a grin. “Since I think we got the cause of the infection, I don’t see that happening.”

“I’m trying to avoid that. I know you are in the middle of filming. However, we need to get rid of the infection. Miss Dupre, I need you to lay down. I need to check to make sure the wound is truly cleaned.”

I wasn’t sure why the nurse blushed, but I felt it had something to do with the doctor’s comment. He puts the mirror down as I lay back to close my eyes as he works to check the wound again. After a few minutes, he was pulling something out of the wound. I winced and fought crying out. It actually did hurt.

Opening my eyes, I see him putting a small sliver covered in puss and tissues in the tray. Unexpectedly, he pressed on the wound causing me to cry out. I didn’t suppress the cry only because I didn’t expect it. “I think we got it, Miss Dupre,” he said as the pressure and pain ended. “This will sting.” He put some kind of antiseptic on it. He picked up something else as he started to re-bandage the wound.

“I’m keeping you here another day. I want that infection gone before you leave,” he said. The nurse took the tray of utensils out of the room, She closed the door behind her. He looked at the door as it closed.

“Thank you, Dr. Reeves,” I said grinning gratefully.

“You’re welcome Kait,” he said with a bit of warmth that had not been in his voice till then. “To answer your other question, yes I’ve treated you before. I’m sorry you don’t remember. Do you have any memories at all from before the accident?”

“Do you think it really was an accident?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. It just seems convenient to stop filming the way it did. Plus, I could have been hurt much worse.”

“Kait, do you have any memory of the accident?”

I stopped to think. Death had only let me know Kait had died. He didn’t tell me how she died. I had no memory at all. I knew it was because I wasn’t Kaitlyn. Any memories she had of her life, I wouldn’t have. To everyone else, it would seem I had lost all my memories before the accident. I shook my head slightly as I said “No, I have no memory before waking up here.”

“That’s fine. You took a really hard blow to the head. However, I need to let you know. There is a detective who wants to speak to you.”

“Why?”

“I can't tell you that,” he said with a regretful look. “I’ll try to keep him at bay a little while longer so you can rest more. I’m giving you an antibiotic for the infection. If you respond well, I can get you out of here tomorrow.”

I nodded again as I said, “Thank you, Dr. Reeves.”

“You’re welcome Kait,” he said with a smile. “And it’s Dustan ok?” I nodded with a little bit of hesitance in my thoughts.